Da Costa defends ‘radio rage’ messages over teammate Vergne

02/14/2020

Formula E star Antonio Felix da Costa says he has “no regrets” about the Santiago E-Prix radio messages in which he blasted his DS Techeetah squad and team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne.

Da Costa narrowly missed out on victory in the Chilean capital, losing the lead to victor Maximilian Guenther with three corners to run after a critical battery temperature issue. He had been delayed earlier in the race behind reigning champion Vergne, who was forced to pit and then retire after a fairing had dropped on to his front-left wheel.

When Vergne tried to knock off the offending article by tapping a wall, he was close to colliding with his team-mate. Da Costa said over team radio: “Man, JEV, this is not how a factory driver works. You understand?

“His car is smoking like f*ck. He’s not moving out of the way.”

After his team replied with “we are on it, we are on it” as they attempted to resolve the situation, da Costa added: “No you’re not! He’s closing the f*cking door. F*cking idiot… We can win this f*cking race.”

Da Costa ultimately finished second in only his third outing with DS Techeetah.

Vergne and da Costa are close friends off track and went skiing in France together after the race. Speaking ahead of the Mexico City E-Prix, da Costa said there were no ill feelings carrying over between the duo.

“There’s no stress, no drama,” he told Motorsport.com. “We’re all lions trying to win. It’s our passion and that’s why we push so hard. There was just a few communications backwards and forwards but it’s a new team for me, I’m new here, it’s a new crew.

“Every day [you are] just getting more acquainted with everything and it’s all good.”

When asked about his relationship with Vergne going forward, da Costa replied: “It’s all good.

“As long as you have respect, then it’s never going to be a problem. We had that misunderstanding at the Santiago race, but two days later we were skiing for a weekend in France. No stress.”